Shinji in Moonie Land
by shinjiwannabe
Summary: My very first fanfiction. What better way to start than a Sailor Moon cross-over? What if you plucked Shinji Ikari from his harsh world and put him in squeeky clean Sailor Moon land? Re-named because someone else may have used Fly Me To The Moon. Sorry!
1. Introduction

Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion or Sailor Moon, if you tell me I do, I'll say "No I don't." If you give me the rights and ownership, I'll say "Is this a joke?" Now that that's out of the way, read on.

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The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back. At least, that's all his mind could come up with at the time. His pulse was racing and his mind was becoming more and more foggy. He felt it grip his arm, at that time, by instinct, he threw a mad swing with his other arm knocking the beast unbalanced. It fell to the earth with a shattering crash. Shinji began to stand his Eva up so that maybe he could change the tide of the losing battle. As he began to stand the other creature hammered him with a powerful blow to the stomach of the Eva. Shinji toppled over and the Angel they called Shamshiel, looked down upon the Eva with a touch of death in its gleam. Just as it had drawn back to strike the Eva down it vanished. The simulation was over, yet Shinji just couldn't shake the grim image from his head.

"SHINJI! What was that?!" a loud voice exclaimed over the intercom inside the Eva.

Even though the voice was deafening and threatening, it was nice to hear a familiar voice. "I'm sorry… I couldn't concentrate… I must've overdone it when I chose to do it with only half my power… but I just wanted to challenge myself, to see if I was as good as Rei… or Asuka…" Shinji answered.

"Hah! That's right Third Child, you only WISH you were as good as moi! Well, I bet I could've done it with only HALF power!" a certain voice yelled from across the control room.

"Alright, Asuka, that's enough of that now. Shinji are you alright?" Ritsuko finally answered.

"Yes, I'll be fine. I'm just a bit shaken…"

"Well, that was expected I suppose, but next time I hope you will fill a bit more into our expectations Shinji."

"I'm sorry…"

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            Sleep doesn't come easy to one that can't silence their thoughts. That night, Shinji couldn't sleep well. He just kept running the film of failing in front of everyone through his head. If an Angel were to attack right now, would he be good enough? Sure, he had taken care of all the ones up to now, but they were getting progressively stronger.

He awoke the next morning to find that Asuka had still been asleep. Misato had been working long hours, so she wasn't home much for the time being. He thought about leaving her to sleep, letting her wake herself up if she was so good. But the best of Shinji always had a way of coming out. He opened her door and began to approach her bed. He put his hand on her shoulder and began to shake her gently.

"Asuka, wake up, it's almost time for school. Asuka?" He pulled the covers back to find only some pillows arranged beneath them.

"AHA! I bet you were hoping to find me asleep so you could take advantage of my body weren't you, Third Child!" Asuka shouted as she slammed open the door of her closet.

"WHA?! No! It's Not That!"

She had already started stomping towards him.

"Oh? Then what IS it then?"

"It's almost time for school… I just thought I'd come wake you up… That's all… I'm sorry if things didn't look that way…" Shinji was trying to hold back his nervousness.

"HMPH! Well… I suppose I can accept an answer like that… THIS time! Don't EVER come into my room again without knocking Third Child, you won't live to regret it"

Agitated and a bit confused, Shinji left Asuka to prepare for the day ahead.

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            At school Kensuke was already pumped up for Shinji's latest tale of being one of the people chosen as an Eva pilot. As soon as Shinji stepped into the class he was raided by Kensuke's interrogations and Touji's playful teasing. Even though this may drive even the tamest boy insane, these were his friends and he wouldn't give them up for anything. ANYTHING is better than being alone, Shinji knew this all too well. After school Touji was desperately asking Shinji as to when Misato might get back on her regular schedule. The highlight of Shinji's day; being absolutely needed.

On the way home from school an enigmatic figure stepped out in front of them. Her blue hair seemed to radiate from the suns light. She was a vision of loveliness, even though the sheer company of her made most of Shinji and his friends uncomfortable. Shinji especially, it was like he knew her very well, yet he knew nothing about her. It was too confusing to understand, but too eerie to forget.

She stared blankly at them and said what she normally does when Shinji runs into her.

"Ikari, you're needed for training right away. I will go there immediately," she said. And with that, she turned and ran to her destination.

Touji leaned over towards Shinji. "So, is Ayanami like this ALL the time?"

Shinji, with a slight blush across his face nodded.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow at school then Shinji. Have fun!"

It always sickened Shinji as to how Kensuke could be jealous of something he repulsed so much. Shinji _loathed_ piloting the Eva, the hideous beast. But even though he hated it so much, it gave him purpose, a reason to carry on. Something that he felt he never had before. He was constantly in a state of turmoil since becoming a pilot, but it was something he had to do.

Shinji temporarily glanced up to see Touji and Kensuke staring at him as though he had lost his mind. He didn't realize that he had been standing there for a pretty good amount of time letting his mind wander.

"OH! Yeah, err… I'll see you guys tomorrow, heh…"

Touji and Kensuke exchanged glances.

"Sure, well… uh, goodbye now," Kensuke said.

Shinji quickly ran off in the direction of NERV, leaving the two dumbfounded friends behind.

"Eva pilots are pretty messed up…" Touji muttered to himself as Shinji disappeared into the distance.

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            The smell of blood, it's quite unsettling. Most people haven't smelled it; if you pick a scab and try to smell the blood you most likely won't pick it up. Although given enough blood, it does have a definite smell. This is a smell is something that Shinji Ikari cannot escape. He sat at the controls of the Eva with the bizarre odor surrounding him.

"So you've collected your instruction fully, correct?"

"Yes Ritsuko, I think I understand."

"Tell me your instruction then Shinji"

"I must neutralize the Angel's AT Field, one-handed, and attempt to destroy the Angel with the prototype bomb."

"It's not just a 'prototype bomb' Shinji, this bomb shatters even the bonds of reality if mishandled. You MUST get it right the first time, if not then not only the Eva will be shattered, but quite possibly your soul as well, not just your body."

"NERV can get away with something THIS powerful?!"

"Well… ahem… NERV can _make_ things this powerful, yes…"

"That isn't what I asked…"

"You're a pilot Shinji, not a scientist. Don't bother with questions, if it were dangerous would we make you do it?"

"I know I could do it if you're not up to it Third Child," Asuka exclaimed from nowhere.

"I'll do it…" Shinji finally said.

He could do it, he knew he could… or rather, he knew he must, he knew he had to. He also knew very well that even if it were dangerous they would make him do it. They didn't bother pitting him against the creatures that could initiate Third Impact and annihilate mankind, although from where he stood right now, fighting a bloodthirsty Angel didn't look very bad…

"Are you ready, Shinji?"

After a long sigh he replied, "Yes Ritsuko, I am."

And with that Shinji launched Unit-01 into action. It never ceased to amaze him as to how the body of the Angel could be cloned. It could've been done if the Angel had DNA, but did it? What kind of technology could NERV have at its fingertips? After thinking about this for a while Shinji decided to concentrate only on the mission at hand.

He clutched the bulky bomb in his left arm while he charged the crustacean type Angel. It reminded him of a cross between a lobster and a squid.

"Stay focused this time Shinji, this is worth more than just a good mark," Ritsuko warned over the COM.

The enormous Angel made a massive swing with its tentacle, but Shinji had prepared for such an attack and leapt the strike.

"SHINJI! Be careful with that! The bomb is VERY sensitive!"

He hadn't noticed, but he nearly dropped the bomb as he landed. Deciding to quickly end the test before he had a chance to mess it up he threw his arm out to the Angel and began to fight its AT Field down. After making a large enough puncture in it he struggled to get the bomb as close to the Angel as possible. With a lunge he managed to stick a pointed end of the bomb into the Angel, almost as well as the pre-mission diagram.

"GREAT job Shinji! Now get out of there!"

Shinji leapt back a bit from the Angel, turned and began to evacuate as far from it as possible. From behind he could feel a great impact. He turned to see the new bomb in action.

The scene was amazing, like that from a sci-fi movie. The Angel had begun to turn inward as rainbow prisms ejected from the pool of blackness that was once the Angel's stomach. After a long 13 seconds, the Angel had completely sucked itself into oblivion.

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            The vision wouldn't stop haunting Shinji all night. He had trouble getting good rest for the next few days. How much about NERV was he dumb about? Was he really needed after all or could they suppress him if he wasn't around? Ever since the first test he had been trying out the same bomb, new types of the same bomb, bombs, bombs, bombs, he was sick of all of them. It had been given the experimental name CH²AOS. It was given that name for it's rumored ability to be able to manipulate even Heaven and Hell.

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            "Alright Shinji, here's the newest test, are you ready?"

"Okay, the same as the others, right?"

"Almost, this time the AI on the Angel will be set for it to act just like a REAL Angel."

"You mean all this time I've been fighting dummies?!"

"Well we needed a guarantee that it was working right"

"Well… Alright… I understand…"

"There will be one more change in the test too though…"

"Oh? What's that?"

"Your father will be watching."

Shinji swallowed hard at the mention of that. Before it was just a test, but now he had to really prove himself.

"…Alright…"

"Just stay focused Shinji and you'll be fine."

"I trust you won't disappoint me Shinji…" Gendo chimed in. His cold, dark voice standing out from the rest.

"Of course not father…"

And with that Eva Unit-01 began on its familiar path. Shinji, hoping to eliminate any chance to mess up with his father watching, hit the Angel head on completely surprising it and nearly toppling it. Shredding the AT Field like paper maché, Shinji quickly planted the CH²AOS bomb into the Angels head and began his run back. It had slipped his mind that he was dealing with a _real_ Angels AI now though. In an effort to retaliate it swung one of its massive tentacles around his leg and pulled the Eva to the ground as if it were nothing. Shinji was completely panic stricken and was unable to sync right with his Eva; therefore he lost control of it.

"Shinji! Get out of there NOW!"

All of the cries coming from over the intercom weren't helping him calm down either. He turned to see the bomb detonate and the Angel still gripping him like death. The last thing he remembered doing was pressing the eject button on his Eva Unit and flying not into safety, but launching the Plug into the heart of the bomb. Somewhere in his thoughts he found a memory of something Ritsuko was saying to him.

"While the bomb can detonate and ravage a great area, if something is thrown into the heart of the bomb during its greatest kinetic phase, the blast, then the bomb will nullify itself with the object. While the bomb may be one our greatest accomplishments so far in the fight against the Angels, it isn't flawless."

That was Ritsuko, an optimist, pessimist, and scientist all rolled into one. As Shinji hurdled towards the oblivion he began wondering weather he should be afraid or glad. He was finally escaping piloting Eva, he was escaping his father, and he was escaping his pains. He realized that he was once again running away. In his flurry of fear, panic, and mad thoughts he did the only thing he could think of at that time. He cried as he was sucked into the blackness.

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Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, a brilliant scientist thought sometimes to be heartless; this was a prime example of one of those times. After losing contact with Shinji's Plug she quickly sent Rei and Asuka out in their Evas to destroy the Angel who was unaffected due to the accident.

"It is a very unfortunate thing that has happened to Shinji. He must be replaced immediately. It seems he wasn't up to our expectations after all…" Gendo said without expression. Where as Ritsuko was sometimes considered heartless, Gendo was a full time case.

After a long silence Ritsuko replied, "Understood…"


	2. Day One Welcome to Moonie Land

His body ached all over, he was sure as to how far he had fallen, but it had been enough to make it a not-so-pleasant experience. He began to raise up to check himself and noticed he was lying on top of someone or something. It was a guy a few years older than he. Shinji quickly collected himself and jumped to his feet.

"Errm… I'm really sorry about that sir…" Shinji said red with embarrassment.

"Uh… It's alright?" the stranger said between coughs.

From out of nowhere a girl with blonde hair and a set of odangos on either side of her hair erupted with anger.

"I can't believe you! This is MY boyfriend! How could you attack him like that?! You're worse than Chibi-Usa! Wait… Please tell me you're not related to her…"

"I'm really sorry… I didn't mean to... I'm not even sure where I am right now… And I'm not familiar with that name, no…" Shinji sputtered out.

"Calm down Usako, I'm sure he didn't mean it. It must've been an accident or something." The older guy had now gotten his footing back and started holding the girl back.

"But Mamoru…" the girl he had called Usagi cried out in a whining voice.

"No Usako, what happened did he jump from a building to kill me or something? There is nothing around for him to have done such a thing. Besides, we don't even know his name, and he isn't exactly all that threatening looking. He fell from the sky like Chibi-Usa, maybe there's a link somewhere. Look at what he's wearing; it looks pretty futuristic to me. Perhaps we should take him to Setsuna?"

Shinji looked down and noticed he was wearing his Plug Suit. No wonder he had gotten such a stir from them. He began to wonder what had happened to the Plug itself, but before he could get too deep into thought a loud voice broke through his thoughts once more.

"Oh Mamoru, you're so smart. I didn't think of that. So little future messenger boy person, what's your name?" Usagi said with a now friendly smile on her face. These people were beginning to frighten Shinji.

"Uhmm… My name is Shinji Ikari…" He couldn't help blushing while he spoke. He was still very much embarrassed.

"Oh, well it is very nice to meet you Shinji Ikari!" Usagi cheerfully said.

"Indeed, it's nice to meet you Shinji. My name, as you may have picked up, is Mamoru Chiba. This is my girlfriend Usagi Tsukino."

"It's nice to meet you two as well. I'm very sorry about what happened. Thank you for being so kind."

"Don't mention it, Shinji Ikari."

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"I got here as fast as I could! You said a guy about our age fell from the sky and he needs a place to stay?! Is he cute?! Where is he?!"

"Calm down Makoto! He's over there," Usagi said in a slightly annoyed voice from behind the door. She pointed the brown haired girl into the direction of Shinji.

"Wow, he kinda does look like my old boyfriend…" Makoto said as she drifted towards Shinji's direction.

No sooner had Usagi gotten back to sit down among Mamoru, Shinji, and the newly arrived Makoto a knock at the door was heard again.

"I'll get it…" Usagi sighed.

Before she could get her fingers around the knob of the door it opened with a huge force crushing Usagi behind it.

"I got here as fast as I could! You said a guy about our age fell from the sky and he needs a place to stay?! Is he cute?! Where is he?!"

"Calm down Minako! He's over there," Usagi said in a slightly annoyed voice from behind the door. She pointed the blonde haired girl into the direction of Shinji.

"Wow, he kinda does look like my old volleyball teammate…" Minako said as she drifted towards Shinji's direction.

Once again Usagi walked back to the table and sat down among Mamoru, Shinji, Makoto, and the newly arrived Minako.

This time it wasn't a knock at the door, it just opened.

"Hello everyone, sorry I'm late."

"Don't worry about it Rei, everyone is still on their way."

"Rei?!"  At the mention of the name Shinji leapt to his feet and looked about frantically. Upon seeing that the Rei that Usagi was talking to wasn't Ayanami and noticing that the look on the others' faces were that of fear and worry he sat back down.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I know someone named Rei where I'm from. Sorry." Shinji explained.

"Oh, I get it. Well then it's quite all right. For a second I thought you were wigging out or something." Usagi said trying to hide the look of confusion.

This didn't help Shinji calm back down or hide his embarrassment.

"Sooo… You must be the one I've heard about. It's very nice to meet you Shinji Ikari," Rei said with a kind voice. "I hope Usagi didn't traumatize you or anything since you met up with her first."

"Rei! That isn't funny!"

"You know I'm just teasing you, don't freak out on me. I'm just trying to make him at ease." Rei said as she sat down with the rest who had gathered.

"You know what this conversation needs? Two cute talking cats!" exclaimed a white cat as it jumped to the table from a windowsill where another black cat sat with a look of dismay upon her face.

Shinji was greatly disturbed at this. He looked down at the white cat's smiling face. Upon seeing that the look on Shinji's face wasn't quite excitement as much as it was fear and insanity Minako spoke up.

"Err… Shinji Ikari, meet Artemis, my cat. He's really cool and he can talk!"

"Uhuh…" Shinji said, looking down at the cat, still not quite sure if he should believe his eyes. At this time the other cat, the black one, spoke up after a long sigh.

"Indeed, you did hear him talk. We are able to talk. We're part of the group trying to find out where you came from. My name is Luna, if you have any questions just ask."

"Well…"

"And _don't_ ask why we can talk…"

"I don't have any questions then…"

After a long silence another girl came in through the door that Rei neglected to close.

"Oh, hello everyone. Am I that late?" the blue haired girl said. "I'm sorry, I was studying and I must've lost track of the time." She looked to the boy sitting at the table. "You must be Shinji Ikari, right?"

"Yes, that's me."

"It's very nice to meet you. My name is Ami Mizuno."

"Hello Ami Mizuno, it's nice to meet you too."

Shinji looked around the room at all of the characters he'd met already and wondered how they could associate with a girl so sophisticated. A colorful group indeed. So far Ami seemed to be the most normal. She sat down with her books, opened them up, and began working on some complex looking problems.

To pass the time the motley crew amused Shinji with some of their stories. Even though at first they seem a bit odd, they were some of the nicest people Shinji had ever met. Shinji began to fit in after a while. The normal clothes that Mamoru let Shinji borrow helped him feel much more comfortable.

Just when Shinji was beginning to ease up and relax a bit a huge crash came from the closet.

"Asuk—err… I mean, what was that?" he exclaimed.

"Grr… I think I know…" Usagi said as she angrily rose from her seat. She opened the closet door and a little pink haired girl fell out of there with a dull thud. "Chibi-Usa!"

"Oh? You're the Chibi-Usa I've heard so much about?" Shinji said over the clamor.

"Ouch… Yes, my name is Chibi-Usa. I heard everything, I had to spy on you, Usagi never tells me anything," the little girl said.

"That's a lie and you know it!" Usagi erupted.

"Oh yeah? Then why did I have to spy! You didn't even tell me what happened!"

"Grr… Chibi-Usa…"

"Uh, hey, why don't you join us Chibi-Usa?" Mamoru spoke out, seeing as how things were getting out of hand.

"Sure thing!" she answered cheerfully before Usagi could reject. Chibi-Usa sat herself down in what used to be Usagi's seat, right beside Mamoru. An agitated Usagi planted herself on the other side of Mamoru.

"Heh… even Chibi-Usa is more mature than you are Usagi," Rei blurted.

Before the argument could ensure the telephone rang and Rei left to answer it. She came back a bit later and started collecting her stuff.

"That was Michiru, she said that they couldn't make it tonight. We'll try again tomorrow," she answered to the confused faces.

"Oh, well tomorrow sounds just fine," Ami said as she collected her things.

Shinji watched all of them getting their things together, and for the first time that day had a reasonable question that actually had an answer.

"Uhmm… I don't mean to be an inconvenience… but where am I going to be staying?"

Everyone stopped their actions immediately, partly because Shinji had finally said more that two words and partly because they hadn't thought of that.

"Well, you could stay here if you'd like, Shinji," Mamoru offered.

"I don't know… I've already taken up enough space in your apartment…"

"Then you could stay with me, I already have, ahem, Chibi-Usa, to deal with, I'm sure you could stay," Usagi added.

"Well, there's enough room at the temple if you'd like to stay there," Rei chimed in.

Shinji looked around the room at the accepting faces and wondered where he should stay.

"I can't make a decision like this, I don't want to be an inconvenience to anyone."

The group exchanged looks.

"Well, I suppose it isn't fair to ask him to choose, one of us will have to decide to let him stay," Ami said rationally.

The group all agreed to do so, they all posed good reasons to let Shinji stay with them. That is, all of them except Makoto, which seemed uncharacteristic of her not to chime in a reason for her to get a guy. The rest of her friends noticed this too. She appeared in deep thought.

"Makoto, what are you scheming?" Usagi asked.

"Hmmm… well, I think Shinji should stay with me. Let's look at the facts. Ami will have her studies, so Shinji couldn't stay with her…"

"Well… yes… I suppose you're right about that," Ami confirmed.

"… and Rei will have her chores at the temple and the tourists to take care of and all the fire reading; she won't be able to find the time either…"

"I didn't think of that… yes, I guess it would be difficult to juggle all of that," Rei said.

"… Minako will have all her extracurricular activities like Volleyball and everything else, she wouldn't be around most of the time…"

"Hey! I could make time!… well… no, I couldn't, I forgot, the championships are coming up… drat…" Minako said with dropped tone.

"… Usagi _really_ needs her studies, and Mamoru could help her with that, so that gets them out of the way-… err… I mean, that occupies them…"

"Hey, I don't…!"

"She's right Usako, you know this," Mamoru said, cutting off Usagi's rant.

"… and that leaves me, I don't really have anything planned, so he can stay with me! Plus I can cook and hold a household!" Makoto finished.

"Those are all very good points, but are you sure? This is a large responsibility," Ami chimed.

"Of course I'm sure, I mean-…"

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything… but you're making me sound like I'm some sort of temporary pet or something… I don't want to cause anyone any trouble, and I certainly don't want you to think of me as a 'responsibility', I can take care of myself," Shinji interrupted.

The entire room went silent as they all gave him a very surprised look.

"I'm sorry, that was rude… carry on…"

"No, no! It's not like that at all, Shinji! I'm sorry for making it sound so harsh," Makoto apologized profoundly.

The conversation carried on until nightfall, but by the end, all of Makoto's good points had wavered their decisions.

"I suppose the best way to do this is to take a vote," Ami said. "All in favor of Shinji staying with Makoto, raise your hand."

Everyone except Minako raised their hands.

"Err… all in favor of Shinji staying with  Minako?"

Minako raised both hands excitedly. She looked around at all their worried expressions. With a look of embarrassment she put her hands down.

"Yes, I suppose Makoto is the best candidate…" Minako said, grasping her defeat.

"Woo hoo!" Makoto exclaimed as she leapt nearly 5 feet from the ground. She looked around at everyone's dismay. "Ahem, I mean, very well then." But she still had trouble hiding her excitement.

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"So this is your house?" Shinji said while standing outside of a large residence.

"Yup, all mine," Makoto said as she unlocked and entered the home. "Come on in, make yourself at home."

"Well… I don't want to be a pain or anything… and shouldn't you ask your parents first?"

"Oh, heh, don't worry about that, my parents passed away while I was pretty young, so I have the entire house to myself."

"Oh… I'm sorry to have brought it up…" Shinji said, looking down with guilt.

"Hey, chin up, you didn't know, besides, I'm over it now," she said as she grabbed his hand and dragged him inside.

"Err… heh heh, thank you…" Shinji said in a courteous, yet, surprised voice.

"Don't mention it, Shinji. It's been so long since I've had any company, I'm glad I to keep, whoops, heh, I mean, let you stay here."

Shinji looked around at all the nice decoration, to be home alone, she had done quite well. He tried to cover up his embarrassment with conversation of the surroundings.

"You have a very nice house, a lot nicer than the one I'm used to staying in, yours is much, MUCH cleaner."

"Really? Thank you. Well, I should probably get to making us some dinner, you're probably starving from such an ordeal. What would you like to eat?"

Shinji opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. He wasn't the least bit hungry, but he couldn't very well tell her that he didn't want any of her food, that would be rude. Also, even though the people act and talk the same, with minor exceptions, how could he be sure that the people here ate the same food?

"Uhmm… heh… you decide."

"Hmm, let's see. How about some miso soup, brown rice, and some chopped chicken and vegetables? Just for starters I mean."

Just for starters? How much could these people eat? It had been so long since Shinji had such a meal that wasn't "instant" he couldn't refuse the offer.

"Wow, that all sounds very good," he said standing up.

Makoto looked up at him with slight surprise, "Yes, it does, why did you get up? Are you not happy with your seat?"

"No, it isn't that, the seat is very comfortable."

"Err… alright then…" Makoto said with a sweat drop, "well then, make yourself comfy and it will done it just a minute."

She walked into the kitchen, dragged out the materials, and began humming a song. Her thoughts began to wonder. Wow, he sure is polite, he's cute too, that insecure disposition just makes him more charming. He can sure act weird sometimes though, like he's never talked to a human face-to-face or something…

She got out the chicken to lie on the counter top, turned, and nearly ran Shinji over.

"AH!" she exclaimed, dropping the chicken to the floor, "Shinji you nearly gave me a heart attack… do you need something?"

Shinji looked down horribly embarrassed. "I just came in to help with cooking I'm really sorry… I didn't mean to scare you…" he said while picking up the bag of chicken.

"Oh, heh, that's quite alright Shinji, it's sweet that you wanted to help," she said, still trying to get over the shock. She took the chicken from Shinji's hands. "Good thing this bag was unopened, right?"

Shinji nodded, still looking down.

"Hey, don't feel bad Shinji, it was an accident, here, I'll let you help me, start chopping the vegetables and I'll start the rice."

Shinji nodded again. He went to the sink to wash his hands, then started chopping. "Wow, he even knew to wash his hands first…" Makoto thought. Just as she'd started the rice Shinji chimed, "The vegetables are chopped, should I put them in a bowl?"

Makoto popped up with surprise. "They're… done? You've chopped them already??" She ran to the counter to make sure he didn't do any simple slices or mutilated them. To her surprise, they were chopped just fine.

"Did I do something wrong?" Shinji asked nervously.

"No… you didn't do anything wrong actually, you did a very good job," she said, scooping the vegetables into a bowl.

"Well, I've had lots of experience… my old roommate was very demanding. She was German so she would only take her food if it was _perfect_."

"Oh… this old roommate of yours, the German girl, was she your girlfriend…?"

"Huh? Wow, I've never heard anyone ask me that before… No, she isn't my girlfriend, more like I'm her slave. She can be nice sometimes, but most of the time she likes to kick me around. I'm sure that deep down she's alright though."

"So she's not your girlfriend?"

"No, not at all."

"Well that's great then!" Makoto erupting, slapping Shinji's back. She saw Shinji's look of surprise and realized what she had just done. She quickly tried to cover it up. "I mean, heh heh, who would want a girlfriend that kicks you around and treats you like a slave, right? Heh heh…"

Shinji accepted Makoto's explanation, "Oh, heh, of course. Well, is there anything else I can do?"

"Sure, you can help me with the miso soup." Makoto said with a smile.

"Alright then," Shinji said, nervously smiling back.

The two helped each other with the cooking. Neither of them were strangers to cooking meals so it turned out much better than the other had expected. They were pleasantly surprised with the masterful gourmet meal that they had prepared in such a short time. Of course, it had been a long, so the food didn't last long. Shinji's cooking skills impressed Makoto very much. "Wow! He's cute AND he cooks… I wonder what else I don't know about him?" she thought to herself as she looked him over. Shinji began to yawn.

"Tired?" Makoto asked.

"A bit, yes. I'm sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused you today…"

"Don't be silly, you haven't caused any inconvenience at all, I've enjoyed your stay. I hope you have too."

"Yes, you've been a great hostess."

Makoto slightly blushed at this. "Heh… Thank you Shinji. Well, since you're tired I'd better show you where you're sleeping…"

She led Shinji to a quaint little guest room.

"This will be your sleeping quarters, is it sufficient? If it isn't then I can prepare another place for you."

"No, thank you Makoto, this is great," Shinji replied as he bowed.

Makoto blushed and pulled him back up. "Stop that, you're embarrassing me. Anyway, I should get to bed too, goodnight Shinji, sweet dreams. I've enjoyed having you."

"Goodnight to you as well, thank you very much for the hospitality."

Makoto nodded. "It's no problem, if you need anything, just come get me. My room is right down the hall."

"Alright then, thank you for everything."

"And thank you Shinji, you helped me with dinner. Goodnight now, rest up, you've had an exhausting day."

"Yes, well, goodnight."

Makoto left, closing the door behind her. She had trouble containing her content. "He's so polite and proper… What a dream!" She floated off to bed thinking about how well the day had gone.

Meanwhile, Shinji lie in the guest bed trying to collect his thoughts. The day had been nerve racking for him. He decided to let it go for tonight and to just try to relax and settle in to his new environment.

~End Day 1~


	3. Day Two Brightest Days, Darkest Nights

Author's Note: Thanks very much for the feedback everyone.  I just got my first negative feedback today warning me of how awful cross-overs are and how I'll just blasphemize Evangelion throwing it in with Sailor Moon.  My 'fic has even been called the "Cream of the crap"!  I've had things telling me that Shinji was too OOC, some warning that it would be impossible to keep the characters in characters, some even going so far as to say "will you use Shinji and the Sailor Moon girls to satisfy your own perverse thoughts?"  Some say that it looked like it was thrown together rather quickly and hurriedly.  I started this about a year ago as a challenge to someone that I could write a better cross-over than they could in a shorter amount of time.  After they didn't even attempt, I just stopped with the first two chapters.  I was drawn to submit this to _www.fanfiction.net _and that's what led me to continue onto it.  I agree that this isn't the best one in the world, not even close.  That's why it's only my first, everyone needs a starting point.  I picked a general starting point (a Sailor Moon cross-over) with some difficulty to it (Evangelion and Sailor Moon… sound difficult enough?).  Still, I'm going to try my hardest to keep it all together.  Nevertheless, thanks much for the feedback, positive or negative.  I greatly appreciate it.  Just try to stick with it, I'll trim the rough ends and pull things together, and ESPECIALLY keep the characters in character. Promise!

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            A very strange sound was heard the next morning.  Not quite so strange as unnatural.  The sound of birds singing.  In the midst of Tokyo-3 there weren't many places, aside from the parks, that birds could live.  Being awakened by the sounds of singing birds was almost alarming.  He lay in bed with broken memories rushing to him, trying to piece them together.  The tests.  The bomb.  The accident.  Suddenly appearing in this strange place.  Strange place?  More like a whole new world, one that had never been ravaged by Second Impact at all.  He began to settle as it all came together and he became completely aware of his settings.

            Shinji sat up and began to rub the sleep from his eyes.  Making his way to the window, he caught sight of the songbirds sitting in a tree just outside the window.  Though he'd heard birds singing many times before, it was almost surreal to hear them so close, so early.  His mind began to drift back to before everything went wrong.  Back to when he was very young, when his mother, whom he could even faintly remember, was alive.  He had lived in an area surrounded by nature.  A smile crept across his face as he drifted back into the good times, his happiness crossing the crevice of time and distance and reaching him now.

            Hesitantly, he opened up the door to the guest room leading to the outside hallway.  He stood at the doorway for a moment, almost feeling out of place, like he was about to intrude into hostile territory.  Finally, he stepped out into the hall, and noticing no sudden attack on his being, decided to move to the kitchen; partially to see if Makoto was awake yet, partially because it was the only other part of the house he knew.

            "I suppose she isn't up yet," he said nearly in a croak.  _Eep, morning voice_, he thought.  _It's a good thing she wasn't up to hear… That could have been quite embarrassing…_He tried clearing his throat, but decided that it wouldn't do the job.  _I need something to drink… Would she mind if I used one of her glasses to drink?_

            As he made his way to the cupboard his mind continued to seem to talk to itself.  _It's only a glass of water.  What am I so worried about?  She was friendly to me.  She was nice to me.  She wouldn't get upset over something so trivial… would she?  Come to think of it, I guess I don't really know much about girls.  The only ones I really spend time with are Asuka, Rei, and Misato.  Asuka is a time bomb, ready to go off at any moment, hardly any temperament… Misato, she's nice I suppose, but what a slob.  She can't seem to take care of herself at all.  But when she's at work, it's like she's a totally different person.  Almost as if she's torn between two identities.  I wonder if Asuka has two identities as well?  Would she have a nice, accepting self just as Misato has a lazy self and a no non-sense self?  Rei… We get along.  I like being around her, but I'm not sure if I like her.  I suppose it's just my lack of people skills… Speaking of which, she hardly says anything, she never seems to show any type of emotion at all… Does she have another self?  One that expresses and wishes to be expressed?  Hikari, the class representative, I don't know her very well.  In class she demands respect, controls us with an unprecedented authority; sometimes though, when class is over, when Touji and Kensuke and I are talking, she looks to us with such… frailty in her eyes.  Almost as if she's nervous of us.  Is that her other self?  The one that holds control, and the one that longs for it… Is that right?  Is this just something in girls?  It can't be… Are all girls composed of two?  That can't be right… Myself, I'm usually quiet, introverted, I think that's the word that Asuka used to mock my personality one day, but sometimes, like when I'm talking with Touji and Kensuke, or when I have to release my anger, I'm more open.  I talk a lot to them, don't I?  I express myself, right?  These people, the ones I met… I wonder if they are made up of two?  They all seem so friendly, so attentive, so nice…  Is there another side to them?  A bad one?_

            Before he'd realized it, he'd almost drank the whole glass of water.  Looking down at the half-empty glass, he noticed a strange looking… _stick_, I suppose would be the best description, sitting on the dining table in the center of the kitchen.  A strange sparkle emitted from it, almost beckoning him to it.  He picked it up, looking over it.  _What the heck is this?  What a strange symbol._  He ran his thumb across something looking like a fancy four.  He nearly fumbled the stick and glass as he heard a yawn emit from across the room.

            "Wow, you're up early.  I was hoping to surprise you with breakfast," Makoto said, still not looking very awake.  "What have you got there?"  Her eyes widened a bit as she stepped towards him and she focused on her transformation item in his hand.  Her mind raced, begging for something to tell him.

            "Oops, I'm sorry… I shouldn't have bothered your things without asking…" he said, almost shamefully.  He put down the stick and put the glass on the countertop.  "There was just something about it that kind of drew me in.  I won't bother your things anymore.

            "Oh no, it's fine really.  I'm your hostess, I want you to be as comfortable as possible," she responded, almost forgetting about the stick altogether.  "If you're wondering about that… it's… it's a…"

            "It looks almost like one of those wacky pens," Shinji said out of nowhere.

            "What?" she asked, astonished at his answer.

            "At my old school, I saw people writing with these.  They look really funny, but they're ink pens, isn't that right?"

            "…Of course!  You saw right through the gimmick!" she said, exasperated at how he'd saved her the trouble.  "You looked pretty deep in thought.  Is something on your mind?"

            "No, I was just thinking about something… Don't worry about it… It's pretty dumb…"

            She stepped to the table and stood across it from him, leaning on it a bit.  "It's not dumb at all, I'm sure of it.  Tell me?"

            "I don't know…"

            Her eyes went big and puppy dog-ish.  "Pretty please?"

            He felt himself beginning to blush and looked down, hiding the crimson of his cheeks.  "…I was just thinking of… identities.  It seems like there's so many hidden ones… Some that we even hide from ourselves out of fear or protection to ourselves… It seems like people have secret identities… Do you understand what I mean?" he asked, slowly beginning to look up.

            She was almost certain that he'd figured everything out.  That when his sight went down, he was looking at the transformation stick; that he'd somehow figured out it's powers and her secret.  When he looked back up at her with such innocent eyes though, she realized she was just being paranoid.  There was no malice in those eyes, they'd expected nothing… or had they?

            She snatched up the stick and nodded, "Yes, of course.  I know exactly where you're coming from," she floundered.  _I've got to change the subject…Aha!_  "Your clothes," she simply said.

            He paused for a moment, a bit stunned at her simple statement, then suddenly looked down at his clothes, searching for a tear or stain or other embarrassment.  "You slept in your clothes," she followed up.  "We didn't even think to get you any change in clothes."

            "It must have been all the excitement, it was easy to overlook.  It's no big deal."

            "Of course it is, after breakfast I'll call everyone and we'll work it all out!"

            "Alright," he answered, not even attempting a resistance.  He'd learned that friendliness can penetrate many a defense.

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            "Shinji Ikari, I'd like you to meet Haruka Tenou and Michiru Kaiou; Michiru, Haruka, vice versa," Usagi said, quite content with herself in not botching up the introductions.

            "So you're the weird kid," Haruka said, extending a handshake.

            "Haruka!" Michiru exclaimed, giving the fore mentioned a glare.  "Don't mind Haruka," she spoke, softly suddenly, with a smile to melt the coldest heart, "it's nothing personal."

            Shinji awkwardly shook the extended hand, feeling uncomfortable being the center of attention yet again.

            "Where's Setsuna?" Ami asked from behind Shinji.

            "She said something about not being able to make it today, maybe tomorrow," Michiru said, again with a softness to make the sharp scolding to Haruka seem like a thing of the past.

            Everyone settled in comfortably in the Hino Temple and the discussion began.

            "Now then, let's examine the way this all came to be…" Ami started.  "Usagi, you say that you and Mamoru were enjoying a picnic, when suddenly he just fell onto you from nowhere?"

            "That's exactly the way it happened," Usagi confirmed, nodding.

            "Hmm…" It looked as if Ami had suddenly locked herself into her mind, searching for an answer.

            "Uhmm… I think maybe I know what happened…" Shinji chimed sheepishly.  As everyone turned to him, he felt his courage escaping him, but tried to explain himself anyway.  "Well, the last thing that happened that I can remember was piloting my Eva…  I was doing a routine test on a prototype bomb…  I planted the bomb on the Angel, those giant beings that ravage everything, and I started to run away from it… Only I'd forgotten that the simulation was set to perfect AI instead just target practice… I fell down and the Angel, it grabbed the leg of my Eva… I panicked and hit the eject button, but I didn't think about the fact that my back was to the Angel and the bomb… So my plug was launched directly into the heart of the explosion…  The scientist in charge of the operation… She told me that the bomb would nullify itself along with the object that interfered…  I think that maybe the blast disintegrated the plug and maybe that's why it was nowhere to be found… and that's why I landed so far away from Tokyo-3, because of the explosion adding to my already forward thrust…"

            A room full of grimaced and confused faces stared at him.  He felt as though he were only three inches tall.  Finally one of them said something.

            "…What are you talking about?"

            Shinji's face went to the source of the voice, Rei Hino.  "What do you mean…?" he asked.  Was NERV covering everything up so well that everybody except the people of Tokyo-3 knew about the Angels?  How could that be possible?

            "What's an Eva? And an… Angel? Like a messenger from God?  Why on Earth would you want to plant a bomb on it?  Tokyo-3? When was there ever a Tokyo-2?  None of what you're saying is making any sense," Rei said disdainfully.

            Shinji immediately leapt to his feet and looked around the room at all the faces, no longer faces, now demons, waiting to pounce.  "What do you mean?" he said, holding down what he could of the ensuing panic.  "After Second Impact, Tokyo was destroyed…  Then Tokyo-2 was built, but when Tokyo-3 was built, everyone flocked there… And Eva, how can you not know what it is?  The giant robots that fight off the Angels sent to destroy us!  How can you not know…" his voice fell with his face.

            "Shinji, you aren't making any sense… What is Second Impact?" Mamoru said concerned.

            He couldn't believe what he was hearing.  He _definitely_ knew that everyone knew about Second Impact.  "Second Impact, in the year 2000, when the so-called meteor hit Antarctica and wiped out over half of the population!"

            Makoto had had enough; she stood up with a stomp.  "Shinji, that's an awful thing to say!  Nothing of the sort has happened!"

            He made fists in his hair and saw the corners of his vision beginning to blur.  "No, no this is all wrong… What's going on? How can you not know this!"  And with those words, he fainted and fell backwards onto the floor, leaving the rest with only more questions.

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            Ropes that Rei had kept around for special ceremonies and celebrations were used to tie Shinji down to a post in the fire reading room, in the event that he should wake up and become psychotic.  They had decided it was the best choice for two reasons: one, it was the one that could best be locked off, Rei had made sure of that after too many interruptions during her reading sessions, and two, it was in the heart of the temple, so in the event that he should escape, he'd have to make it out of the maze of a temple.  They had no idea what was going on, what had happened to make him become so hostile and crazy out of nowhere, what would even make him think such horrible things; all they knew was that he should be kept somewhere where he could not hurt the others, or himself.  They decided to leave him there until he woke up or until they could figure out what to do with him.

            The only thing they knew for certain was that Shinji was not from the future; his story of what had happened in the year 2000 confirmed that.  The millennium had come in years ago and there was certainly no catastrophe like he'd mentioned.  All they could really do was wait, wait for him to wake up or wait for things to make sense; whichever came first.

            ~End Day 2~

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            Author's Note II: Okay, okay. I've been warned to stop this 'fic.  Don't judge a book by it's cover though, I don't intend to make this a mockery.  I acknowledge the fact that a lot of people hate cross-overs, I acknowledge the fact that apparently LOTS of people hate Sailor Moon cross-overs.  I respect the fact that you're looking out for the fanfiction community, at least respect the fact that in writing this I'm getting experience and developing better writing methods so that if you hate this one, I'll hopefully write AT LEAST one you can tolerate.


	4. Author's Note

Author's Note:

It's been a good while since there was an update on this fanfiction. I've received some emails asking whether or not it's dead. I can safely say that it is not finished. I plan on finishing it up. Lately I've been swarmed with work and been very busy though. Fortunately though, most of it seems out of the way now, so look forward to seeing an update within the next month, maybe. Thanks to everyone for the positive (and negative!) reactions, as well as the encouragement to keep everything going!


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